Ballast-treating machine



Feb. 28, 1928.

J; ERICK SON BALLAST TREATING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 1926 IINVENTOR. 60 ZZZW A TTORNE Y.

J. ERICKSON BALLAST TREATING MACHINE Feb. 28, 1928.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 31 2d Filed Aug. 1 1926 8 O OOO'OOauez-u-ove-o-oeweeeeowae-g-o-o-oo-oo 00000 INVENTOR. M

A TTORNEY.

cab o 00 CO0 o o o Q a a0 a o sconce coogo Patented Feb. 28, 1928.

JAMES xtension, or noLMEsBUne,.rnnNsYLvAnIA.

BALLAST-TREATING MACHINE.

Application filed August 17, 1326. Serial No. 129,698.

It is necessary that the stone ballast of railway tracks be treated atintervals for the purpose of removing from the voids between the stones,constituting the'ballast material dirt and similar material which tendsto clog the layer of ballast and prevent the free drainage of watertherethrough.

The means heretofore employed for the In purpose of treating the ballasthas been unsatisfactory because of the slowness with which the treatmentmay be effected;

The ballast treating means of the present invention is adapted fortreating the ballast 1 upon the sides of railway tracks and betweenadjoining tracks and for redepositing the treated and cleaned ballastafter treatment.

The general object of the present invention isto-provide ballasttreating means which is adapted to be mounted uponthe body of a railwaycar and, when operated, to deposit the dirt and other clogging materialin the said body and simultaneously to.

deposit the cleaned rock constituting the ballast at the sides ofrailway'tracks and between adjoining tracksshould there be two tracks inadjoining relation to each other.

It also is an object of the invention to provide a jigging pan ontowhich the mate.-

rial to be treated maybe deposited and means for effecting operation ofthe said jigging means to cause separation of the ballast rock from thedirt and other impurities or clogging material which may be present andintermingled therein. 1 Another object of the invention is to providemeans whereby the ballast after treat-- ment may be depositedautomatically in positions in rear of the positions from which the saidballast was removed, in order that the gathering and depositing of theuntreated ballast material onto the jigging pan of the ballast treatingmeans may be carried on simultaneously with the depositing of thetreated ballast in place .upon the track bed.

To these and other ends my invention comprehends the construction andarrangement of parts as hereinafter described in detail, particularlypoint-ed out in the claims and as illustrated in the drawings in which Ihave illustrated one form of afconvenicnt embodiment of apparatus ormeans embodying the invention. I

However, it will be understood that the invention is susceptible ofembodiment. in

other formsof construction than that shown and that changes in thedetails of construction maybe made within the scope of the Fig. 1 is aview in longitudinal section of an apparatus or means embodying theinvention and in transverse section of a car body upon which the saidapparatus or means in adjustably mounted, the said figure also'showing awheel and a portion of the axle for supporting the saidcar body andalso, in section, one rail of a railway track and a portion of across-tie upon which the same is supported;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus or means embodyingthe invention and also showing the upper portions of the opposite sidesof the railway-car body upon which the said apparatus or means issupported; v I 1 Fig. 3 is a view in top plan of the means embodying myinvention, a portion thereof being broken'away in order to show the de-7 tails of construction of a part of the mecha a portion of the saidmachine taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, the said view also showing aportion of the inside of one side of the car body uponwhich the machineis supported. 7 7

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a railway track and 2 a railwaycar mounted upon wheels which are supported upon the rails of the saidtrack.

so that the ballast does not' satisfactorily perform its function ofdraining off the water in case of rain. Hence, 1t becomes nec- Althoughnot shown, it will be understood that not only between the cross-ties ofthe track, but also upon both sides of the track and in betweenadjoining tracks there is essary at intervals treat theballast for thepurpose of removing therefrom such dirt and other foreign materials. Tothat 'end the machine which will now be described in detail has beenprovided.

The machine comprises a frame structure consisting of base side members3 which are joined at their opposite ends by means of connecting andbracing members t, 5 and 6. The members 1 and 5consist of channels whilethe member 6 is shown as consisting 1' of a; cylindrical rod orJbar, butit may consist of a member of any other suitable shape in crosssection.Standards 10 are connected with thebase members 3 at the opposite sidesof the base frame of the machine near the front end thereof. Thesestandards exof channel shape are connected at their up per front ends tothe standards 10. The cross connecting bar 12 extends through the saidmembers 15 near their upper front ends, as shown. The opposite ends ofthe said side members 15 at the discharge or rear end of the machine areconnected to the adjoining ends of the base frame members 3 by means ofrivets, as indicated at 16. Relatively short standards 17 are secured tothe side frame members 3 near the discharge or rear end of the machine,which standards are also connected with the inclined side frame members15. The members 3, 10, 15

and 17 are tied rigidly together so as to form a strong, rigidframestructure. The top edges of the opposite sides of the car body areprovided with Wear plates 21 and 22 which may be of any preferred shapein transverse section. In the drawings I have shown the wear plate 21 asof channel shape, while the wear plate 22 is of angle shape.

It is apparent that the framestructure may be moved todifferentpositions with respect to the length of the car body merely bysliding the same upon or over the wear plates 21'and 22. If preferred ordesired anti-friction means may be'provided for facilitating themovement of the frame structure with the operative parts of the machinethereon to different positions upon the car body. H

The standards or projections 10 and 17, previously referred to, projectabove the upper edges of the inclined side frame members 15 for apurpose which will be herein-- after described.

Supported upon theframe struct'ureis a jig pan 25 having a perforatedbottom 26,

as shown. The perforations should be of a size sufficient to permit thepassage therethroughof the dirt and other material which structure ofthe. machine. For the purpose of decreasing the shock,

. it is desired to remove from the ballast stone,

but such perforations must be smaller the the diameter of the smallestportions of stone which it is desiredto retain in the ballast mass. j

The jig pan 25 mounted upon parallel links 28 located at the oppositesides of the frame structure of the machine. The lower ends of the frontlinks of the respective pairs of parallel links 28 are pivotallysupported upon the lower ends ofbrackets 29 which are secured to anddepei id from the opposite inclined frame member 15. The lower ends ofthe rear links of the respective pairs of parallel links are p votallyconnected to the side members 3 of the base, of

the frame structure, as indicated at 30. The upper ends of the links arepivotally connected to the opposite sides of the jigran as indicated at31. j

For the purpose of effecting oscillating or jigging movements of the jigpan 25 I have provided connectlng links 35, the upper. ends of which areconnected to the opposite sides of the 11?; pan, while the lower endsthereof are connected with eccentrics 36 mounted,

upon a shaft 37 supported in bearings 38 provided upon standards 10. Thesaid shaft is provided with a wheel 38 which is adapt ed to be driven bymeans of a suitable belt 39 whichis in turn driven by means of a smallwheel 10 mountedupon the shaft 41 of an engine indicatedat 42. A flywheel 43 is also mounted upon the said shaft 41.. The

engine structure is mounted upon a plat for1n45 which is secured totheupper edges of thecross-beams 4 and 5, previously re-;

ferred to.

The engine structure is merely indicated in outline because any suitableconstruction of. engine may be employed for the purpose of driving/thewheel 38 and the shaft 37 on which it is mounted to effect reciprocationof the connecting rods 35 to thereby cause oscillating or jiggingmovements of the jig pan 25. l

In its oscillating movements the jig pan 25 is steadied and guided bythe upper end portions of the standards 10 and 17 which pro ect aboveand beyond the upper edges of the inclined side members 15 of the frameineasethe oscillating jig pan should strike the inclined side members 15of the structure, I have provided buffer blocks 50.

or other suitable material.

For the purpose ofprotect ing as far as mounted upon the upper endportion of the jig pan 25. This hood extends forwardly over and abovethe top of the engine structure and its sides are closed so as topartially of rubber inclose the upper portion of the engine structure.Asa further protecting means I have also provided a hood 52' mounted at1ts lower edge upon the base frame members 3 and extending crosswise ofthe machine and around and over the wheel 38'and shaft 37. The upperedge of the protecting hood 52 terminates in adjacent relation to across-beam 58 which extends between and connects the inclined sidemembers 15 of the frame structure. The protecting hoods 51 and '52 arepreferably constructed of sheet metal, as shown.

At its discharge end the machine is provided with a chute 6Othroughwhich the cleaned ballast material is redeposited upon the trackbed. Thechute comprises inner and outer walls 61 and 62', and edge walls63 and 64. The top edge of the inner wall 61 terminates in a planesubstantially flush with that of the adjoining edge of the bottom 26 ofthe jig pan 25 when the latter occupies its lowermost position. Theouter wall 62 and the opposite edge walls 63 and 64 of the chute extendupwardly above the top edge of the inner wall 61. The distance betweenthe extended portions of the edge walls 63 and 64 is slightly greaterthan the exterior width of the jig pan 25, so that in the oscillationsof the latter it will not strike the said edge walls.

The lower edges of the inner and outer walls 61 and 62 and the edge wall64: extend transversely of and are inclined with respect to the jigstructure, as indicated at 65, so that the discharge opening 66 of thechute is located adjacent the lower end of the edge wall 63. The purposeof so locating the discharge opening vof the chute. will be fully setforth hereinafter.

The wall 64 is provided with an, eye 67 which is adapted to be mountedupon a supporting pivot 68 which is secured'to one of the side members15 of the frame of the machine by means of rivets 70. The eye 67 is.retained upon the pivot 68 by means of a pin 71. An anchoring andsupporting chain 75 I is secured to the opposite edge wall 63 of themachine near the lower end thereof and is adapted to engage with hooks76 located at intervals upon the adjoining side of the car body.

lVhen the railway car uponwhich the ma chine is mounted is stationaryand the said machine is in use the chain is connected with a hook 76 ina way to support the chute in depending position to discharge thetreated ballast onto the track bed, as shown in Fig. 4. When, however,it is desired to transfer the car upon which the machine is mounted tosome other location upon the railway track the lower end of the chute islifted by turning the said chute about its pivot 68 and is supported insuch elevated position by engaging a hook 76 with a link of the chain 75located more nearly to the point of coni iection of the chain to thechute.

- In the use of the machineit. will be as edge wall and the wall-63 as arear edge wall. v

The material to be treated may be scooped up by dredge buckets frompositions or locations corresponding to the forward part of the chute orbeyond such forward part'and deposited upon the upper end portion of themachine'adjacent-the hood 51. If at such time the pan is beingoscillated the mate-' rial will flow downwardly upon the bottom of thepan-;: the dirt and-other impurities will pass through the openingstherein and be deposited inthe car body, while the cleansed stone willbe discharged into the chute and be deposited through the opening 66 atpoints in rear of that from which the untreated ballast was previouslyobtained and placed upon the jig pan for treatment. As the work proceedsthe car with the machine thereon may be moved forward in order to bringthe latter into operative relation to the ballast to be treated; also,as the portion of thebody underneath the jig pan becomes filled with thedirt and other impurities which are sifted throu h the holes onperforations in the bottom 0 the'jig pan the machine is moved forwardupon the top edges of the car body so as to deposit the dirt and otherimpuritiesin an unfilled portion of the car body. I

Any suitable means maybe provide d for It will be seen that by myinvention I am enabled to provide a machine which is well adapted forthe economic treatment of the ballast of railway tracks for thepurposeof removing dirt and other impurities therefrom and fordepositing the cleaned ballast directly from the machine onto the trackbed at points in rear of that from which it was taken to be placed uponthe jig pan of v the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: j

1. In a railway ballast treating machine which is adaptedto be movablymounted upon a railway car body, the combination of a frame mounted uponthe said car body, a jig pan having a perforated bottom supported uponsaid frame, said jig pan being angularly related to a horizontal plane,powermeans for effecting oscillations of the said jig pan, a chutesupported to swing in a plane which extendstransversely of the said jigpan, the upper end of said chute being open and being located incooperative relation to the lower end of the said jig pan, means forsupporting said chute thereon in depending vertical or in elevatedposition in adjoining and parallel relation to a side of the said carbody, and the said chute being adapted to deposit the cleaned ballast inpositions in rear of the front, edge portion of the said machine.

2.. In a railway ballast't-reating machine, the combination of a framestructure adapted to be-mounted upon a railway car body and to be movedfrom end to end thereof, a jig pan having a perforated bottom mountedupon the said frame structure, means for effecting oscillatory movementsof the said EU jig pan, a pivot bar mounted upon said relation to thedischarge end of the said jig pan to receive treated ballast therefrom,the

forward edge wall of said chute being pivotally supported upon the saidpivot bar, whereby the said chute may be swung into adjusted positionsin a plane extending at right angles to a horizontal plane, and meansfor supporting the said chute in adjusted angular positions; 7

In testimony that I claim the foregoing;

as my invention, I have hereunto signed myname this 13th day of August,A.'D. 1926.

JAMES ERIGKSON.

